When We Were the Heroes
by mpspenguin
Summary: Behind every villain, there's a story of lost friends and ruined dreams. This is James'.
1. Chapter 1

James couldn't sleep.

Each second that passed on the clock seemed to drill into his ear with a deafening "tick", each one pulling him a little closer to morning. A morning he'd been dreading for the last two weeks. Sighing, he shifted onto his back, and gave up trying to rest, staring through the darkness until his eyes adjusted to the absence of light. Usually when he looked up at night, millions of stars would blink back at him. Now, all he saw was the peeling white paint on the ceiling of his dormitory. He wasn't sure if being indoors was an improvement after all.

In a few short hours, he, Jessie and Meowth would be on one of their biggest missions yet. James might have acted optimistic in front of his peers, putting on his usual mindless facade, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that failing this time could mean never seeing his team mates again.

Unable to stay in his bed with only his worries and that godforsaken clock for company, he carefully climbed down the ladder of the bunk bed, making sure to be silent so as not to wake Jessie or Meowth. No doubt they'd had the same difficulty getting to sleep.

He didn't bother changing; he was still wearing his Team Rocket uniform from the day before, as he knew he'd have to put on a disguise in the morning anyway. He pulled on his boots, and, taking slow steps, walked over to the open window. A few moments passed where James just stood there taking deep breaths before he pushed himself up onto the window ledge, and climbed outside.

The air was refreshingly clear, unlike the city air swimming with fumes from factories and cars that James was used to. One advantage of Team Rocket Headquarters having to be positioned in abstract patches of land ignored by the general public was that, on the rare occaisions they stayed at HQ, James could have a moment of something he longed for, but very rarely got: solitude. Even if the conditions were far from perfect, this was one of these moments, and the young man took a few seconds to forget about the mission, and just lose himself in his tranquil surroundings.

He began to move away from the block of dormitories, and through the unkept grass towards a forrest that surrounded the HQ, and kept it invisible from travellers. It was a path he'd taken many times- unbeknownst to anyone else-, and he smiled at the subtle landmarks that had become familiar to him over time; the rocky patch where he'd sat with Jessie and Meowth the night before their final challenge in training, the fallen pole that had once been part of a makeshift zip wire- even the tree some agent had crudely carved "Fuck the police" into had fond memories attatched to it.

It took about ten minutes to reach the spot James had set out for; in front of him was a cliff edge that overlooked miles of forrest, no obstacles to block the view. A river below snaked through the trees, and if James listened carefully, he could just make out the sound of trickling water.

He sat down about a metre from the very edge, not looking up at the stars as he might have done normally but instead fixing his gaze straight ahead at the horizon. Nothing was going to distract him tonight. If all went wrong tomorrow, and he never saw his partners again, he wanted to relive everything first. To look back on all the people he'd met- not just Jessie and Meowth, but everyone who'd forged his story.

Tonight, he wanted to remember.

* * *

_Five years earlier_

It had been exactly three years since James had left his parents' estate- July the twenty-third. He didn't keep track of much, not even his birthday, but that seemed to be one date he couldn't push out of his mind.

The thirteen-year-old discarded the newspaper he'd found on the ground, and sighed, leaning back on the uncomfortable surface of the bench he sat on. To his right, tourists queued up to use a telescope that let you look over the city if you fed it a quarter, and on his other side was a hot dog stand with a smiling man behind the counter. If James could afford to spend any more of his money, he would have bought the junkiest thing on the menu; it was just the kind of thing that would horrify his parents, and even though he knew they couldn't possibly find out, he took every opportunity to do something they'd disapprove of.

James lifted his backpack onto his lap, and started checking that everything was still there; wallet, blanket, spare hoodie and a half-eaten bar of chocolate. Living in a city where, behind the fancy hotels and family parks, pickpockets, muggers and gangs thrived had made the young teenager paranoid, and streetwise beyond his years. He could tell the difference between a salesman and a conman, knew which people might pose a threat, which ones to cross the street just to avoid. Days were easy- he could blend into the crowd of tourists and avoid danger- but nights were a different matter. When the sun sank, James prepared for the worst.

He jumped as he felt something tug at the bottom of his jeans, and looked down. A little boy who couldn't have been older than six grinned back up at him. He had wavy blonde hair, and was wearing shorts, sandals and a t-shirt with a Charmander printed on the front. "Hello," the boy said, rocking back and forth on his heels a little.

"Uh, hi?" James replied unsurely, glancing around for the child's parents.

"I'm five and three-quarters," the boy told him proudly. James nodded, feigning an impressed expression. The kid stuck around for a little longer, and, deeming James no longer interesting, walked around behind the bench. Almost immediately after, a young couple approached James, looking concerned.

"Thomas? Tommy?" the man shouted, and turned to James with a frown. "Have you seen a little boy? Blonde, about this high?" he asked, pointing just above his knee.

"Yeah, just a second ago," James nodded. "He went over there." He stood up and looked to the area the boy had wandered to, and then gasped. The boy had climbed onto the bricks that bordered the edge of a steep drop to the road below, and smiled at James as he stood up.

"Thomas!" the woman shrieked, going pale. The man looked equally terrified, but neither made a move towards their son.

"Tommy," the father said shakily, struggling to keep his voice calm, "Tommy, I need you to come back this way, okay champ?"

The boy nodded slowly, perplexed at his parents' strange attitude, and then looked down to his right at the concrete below. He screamed as he realised how high up he was, and froze, his legs trembling precariously. "Mummy!" he shrieked, and started crying.

James started to walk slowly over to the child, not wanting to scare him any further. "Hey, it's alright," he said, praying that the kid would stay still; one wrong step would send him plummeting thirty feet to the ground. He was about a metre away when the boy lost his balance, and fell backwards with a yell. James leapt forwards, stretching an arm out to the kid, and managed to grab the boy's t-shirt. As he leant down to catch the kid, however, his head bumped into someone else's as they did the same thing.

A girl about James' age was also clinging onto the child, and winced briefly as her head hit James'. Together, they pulled the boy back up onto the ground, trying not to hurt him, and sighed simultaneously with relief as the sobbing child was lifted to safety. The boy's parents immediately rushed over to him, and his mother scooped him up into her arms.

"Oh, Thomas, don't _ever_ scare me like that again," she whispered, hugging her child and stroking his hair. The boy's dad wrapped his arms around her briefly, talking soothingly to his son, and turned to James and the girl.

"Thank you both _so _much," he said, breathing out heavily. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't... oh god..."

He trailed off, and buried his head in his hands. "I can never repay you for that, but if you ever need a favour, don't hesitate to ask us, okay?" The man rummaged around in his pockets, and produced two business cards. "My phone number's on there. If there's ever anything you need, give me a call. _Jesus Christ..._ I'm not letting my son out of my sight ever again."

James took the card awkwardly, and slipped it into his pocket. The girl did the same, and she and James watched as the parents, along with the boy, walked away.

"Idiot," the girl snapped, turning to James and punching his shoulder. "You hit my head!"

"Ow!" James yelped, rubbing his arm. He glared at the girl, wondering what her problem was, and then... "Jessiebelle!" he gasped, taking a step backwards and sheilding his face. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

James moved his arms back down slowly, looking carefully at the girl. Her features were remarkably similar to Jessiebelle's, to the point where she looked almost like a clone. But as James looked harder, he could make out defining differences: her hair was a slightly different colour, and her eyes, although blue like Jessiebelle's were a softer shade. Her accent was completely different too, not coming close to Jessiebelle's Southern drawl.

"You... Never mind," James told her warily, feeling his shoulders relax. The girl was still rubbing the spot on her head where she'd collided with James, looking at him accusingly, but her face sudddenly softened, and she started laughing. James laughed too, despite the pain in his head, just relieved that he hadn't bumped into his crazy fiance. "Hit my head again and I'll kill you," the girl said, her expression hardening again. James wasn't sure if she was joking. They looked at each other for a few seconds longer, and then the girl walked away, leaving James standing alone on the edge of the grass as the sun dipped ever lower in the sky.

* * *

After that, the coincidences seemed to keep on happening. Just a week later, James bumped into the girl in a bookshop when they were both looking for the same book. He smiled at her, but she just scowled, ripped the book from his hands and left. He saw her again one rainy night when he was sheltering under a bus stop, but neither of them acknowledged the other's presence. James started to think the girl was stalking him when they met again at the Pokemon Tech entrance test.

"_Look," _the girl growled when the test was over, and James had been moving over to the results board. She pinned him to the wall with one arm, her eyes flashing with anger. "I don't know why you're following me, but you'd better piss off or you'll regret it."

"I'm not following you!" James protested, trying unsuccessfully to get out of her grip. "I thought _you _were following _me_!"

"Oh yeah, sure," the girl scoffed. "Why would you be taking the entrance test to this place?"

"I need a scholarship somewhere," James told her, still struggling. "I'm going to need a job eventually."

The girl finally loosened her grip on James' shirt, pushing him against the wall as she took a step backwards. "You'd better be telling the truth. What's your name?"

"James," he said, straightening his shirt and still glowering at her. "What's yours?"

"Jessie," the girl said reluctantly, and crossed her arms. She frowned at James as if to deduce whether he was telling the truth or not, and then nodded slightly. "They'd better let me in after all that. I was studying all night."

James was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude; just a minute ago, she'd been holding him against a wall and threatening him. "Let's look at the results, then," he suggested, realising that all the other applicants had moved over to the screen on the other side of the room to see what score they'd gotten.

The two teenagers walked over to join the crowd, nervously looking at the names and scores scrolling across the huge screen and waiting for theirs. James felt his heart leap as his name appeared briefly; his eyes quickly moved over to the score he'd gotten.

"A hundred and eighty two," he mumbled to himself as another potential student's name replaced his. He hurriedly pulled out the leaflet that had been given to him at the entrance of the hall, and skimmed over the words, trying to find the required scores.

"I did it," he whispered, realising that he was two marks into the band for a full two year scholarship. James broke into a huge grin, and punched the air.

"I take it you got in, then?" Jessie asked, next to him again.

"Uh, yeah," James said, wondering if she had too. "Did you?"

"Phh. Easily. A hundred and ninenty five," Jessie replied casually. They stood in silence for a moment, before Jessie spoke again. "Well, I suppose I'll see you for the first term, then."

"Yeah," James said, pocketing the leaflet again. "See you."

* * *

Within the first couple of weeks of Pokemon Tech, Jessie and James became fast friends. They both seemed to be the misfits in the school, the only two without wealthy parents feeding a huge sum of money into their accounts every month. It was an ideal friendship; James was the voice of reason, whilst Jessie was the defense James seriously lacked and, in a school full of upper-class bullies, needed.

The terms passed faster than James thought possible, and nearly all of his spare time was devoted to studying. Considering that they both had extremely impressive entrance exam scores, no one really expected the results of the summer test.

"A _two?_!" Jessie exclaimed, gesturing furiously to the piece of paper she'd been given. "How the hell did I get a _two_?"

"You seem to have completely misinterpreted the style of answer required by the exam board," an examinator said. "Many of your answers drifted off topic, and were irrelevant."

James' score was equally bad, and he gawped in horror down at the result.

"I'm afraid there is no way we can continue to offer you a place at the school," someone else told them, not sounding sorry at all.

"What? But we got two year scholarships!" Jessie argued.

"Nevertheless, we have people waiting to get in with test scores of a hundred and fifty or higher," the man replied. "It's a highly competitive school, and we can't waste our time with such low scoring students. I'm sorry."

"Up yours," Jessie spat, threw the paper on the floor and left the hall, James following quickly.

They left the school as soon as they'd packed, still shocked and confused at what had happened. Neither was really sure of where they were going, only that they wanted to get as far away from Pokemon Tech as possible.

When they'd walked for about twenty minutes, James sat down on the edge of the pavement, and rested his forehead on his knees.

"Why can't anything ever go right?" he asked himself quietly, fighting back tears.

"Shut up, James. Whining isn't going to help," Jessie said, but lacking her usual spirit. "Come on. Let's just keep going."

James took a deep breath, nodded, swung his backpack back over his shoulder and resumed trudging behind Jessie.

As they turned into an alleyway, a boy slightly younger than them ran towards the pair. He looked terrified, and his face was streaked with tears.

"Please, you've got to help me!" he pleaded, choking back a sob. "It's my sister, she's hurt!"

Jessie and James looked at each other, and then nodded. "She's in our house- this way," the boy sniffed, and led them further down the alleyway. The boy stopped at a corner, and pointed down the street. "It's just up here- the door's open," he said. They walked in the direction he was pointing, and then Jessie frowned.

"Where's your house?" she asked, not seeing anything other than brick wall. Suddenly, four older teenagers, two girls and two boys, jumped out from behind a wall, blocking the path forwards. One of them was holding a gun. James turned around to try and run back the way he'd come, but the boy who'd taken them there was in his way, a flick knife in his undersized hands.

"Money, phones, jewellery," the boy with the gun barked. His head was shaven apart from a short, brown mohawk, and he looked about seventeen. When neither Jessie nor James reacted, the boy held the gun up, switching his aim between the two. "Now!"

James hurriedly rummaged through his bag for his wallet; Jessie did the same, and then approached the boy, looking terrified. "Please don't hurt me," she whispered, handing him a red purse. He frowned, and lowered the gun slightly as he took the item from her. Jessie sniffed, and then grabbed his wrist, her expression quickly changing to one of determination.

"Agh!" the boy yelled, trying to prise his wrist from the much younger girl. Jessie ignored him, and pulled his arm behind his back. She twisted his wrist until he loosened his grip on the gun, took it with her other hand and pressed it against the back of his head.

"Anyone come closer, and mohawk here will be painting the walls with the insides of his head," Jessie warned. The other teenagers looked shocked at the sudden turn of events, as did James. The youngest boy with the knife didn't move, but kept the weapon firmly in his grip.

"Nice try," the boy Jessie had attacked smiled weakly, wincing as he felt the girl twist his hand a little harder, "but that thing isn't even loaded."

As soon as he'd said this, his peers leapt into action; one of the girls grabbed James, taking out another knife and holding it against his throat, whilst the other boy pulled Jessie off his comrade. Jessie was about to hit him on the head with the gun, when she saw the knife pressed against James' neck, and froze. The guy with the mohawk clapped slowly.

"Impressive," he said, grinning at Jessie. "You would've gotten me if that thing had any ammo."

James shifted slightly to keep his balance, and the girl pulled him roughly backwards. Mohawk guy waved a hand. "Let him go," he said. The girl frowned, but obliged; James stumbled forwards, gasping and raising a hand to his throat.

"I should have broken your arm," Jessie snarled. The boy held up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa- I let your friend go, didn't I?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Jessie considered this. "Look- it seems stupid to let such talent go wasted," he continued, signalling for his friends to put their weapons away. "We could do with a fighter like you. What do you say? Want to join?"

"Join what?" Jessie shot back, still untrusting.

"Our bike gang," the boy replied, as if the answer was obvious. "I know we didn't just give you the _best_ first impression, but we don't usually mug people. We're not bad guys."

"I find that very hard to believe," Jessie said flatly.

"We're just trying to survive," the older girl chimed in. "It's not so bad- we travel from town to town, split whatever we earn and keep each other alive."

"Why the hell should we join after all that?" Jessie questioned angrily.

"You saw you were outnumbered just now," the other boy said. "If we'd really been trying to hurt you, your friend's throat would be slit by now. There's five of us- you join and that's seven. You'll have a way better chance, apart from anything else."

"We should do it, Jess," James said, surprising her. "They're right. We'd be much more likely to survive in a group."

"They just tried to kill you!"

"They could have, but they didn't," James reasoned. Jessie sighed, and turned back to the teenagers.

"Alright. Fine. But pull anything funny and we're out of here."

"Got it," Mohawk boy nodded. "I'm Robbie, seventeen, the girl with the bandana's called Erin- she's fifteen-, the other girl with dark hair's Ruby, sixteen, the guy over there- not the little one-, that's Archie, fifteen, and this one," he smiled, walking over to the youngest boy who'd pretended to cry and patting him on the back, "is my baby brother, Luke. He's twelve."

Jessie nodded, and muttered under her breath. "Okay, so Erin, Ruby, Robbie, Luke and..."

"Archie," Archie said helpfully. "What about you two?"

"I'm Jessie, and this is James," Jessie told them. "We're both fourteen."

"Jessie and James," Robbie repeated. "Easy enough to remember. Welcome to the gang."

* * *

Robbie went off almost straight after to go and get bikes for Jessie and James. Jessie handed the gun back to Erin, who smiled awkwardly. "Thanks," she said, sliding it inside her jacket pocket. "Look, sorry I held a knife to your throat," she said sheepishly to James, looking worlds away from the aggressive knife-weilding maniac she'd been just minutes ago.

"It's okay, I guess," James said, smiling a little. Erin's blonde hair was in a ponytail, and she wore a blue bandana with little Marills on it. Without the knife, she looked like a regular fifteen-year-old girl.

"You were really convincing with the whole 'scared little girl' act, Jessie," Erin praised, sounding genuinely impressed. Jessie smiled.

"Well, Luke isn't the only one who can act," she said, looking at the small twelve-year-old. Luke grinned, a mixture of pride and embarassment on his face. Ruby- the second oldest with olive skin and frizzy brown hair, produced the purse Jessie had given them.

"Here," Ruby said, holding it out to Jessie, who shook her head.

"Keep it. It doesn't have anything in it- it's just a cheap one I bought for situations like this."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Clever. You might just be better at this stuff than me," she admitted.

"And here's Robbie with the bikes!" Archie said, putting on the tone of a commentator. Robbie was pushing a bike with each hand, a red one and a silver one. James silently questioned where Robbie had magically gotten two bikes from, but didn't say anything.

"Here you go," Robbie said, leaning the bikes against the wall. "Take your pick-" he stopped to laugh- "but the red one still has training wheels on! Might want to take those off first," he suggested, chuckling. Jessie went to get the silver one when James leaned over her shoulder.

"I don't know how to ride a bike," he hissed, glancing nervously over his shoulder to check that none of the others had heard him.

"What?" Jessie whispered back incredulously. "You might've mentioned that _before_ we joined a _bike _gang! Didn't your parents teach you?"

James shifted uncomfortably. "My parents didn't really spend that much time with me. I can ride a horse, no problem, but I've never even been on a bike."

Jessie sighed. "Look, just leave the training wheels on for the moment, and I'll teach you properly later. Okay?"

James nodded, and took the red bike, looking at it as if it was about to explode. Robbie and the others briefly left to retrieve their bikes from the neighbouring alley; James saw Robbie raise an eyebrow at the training wheels, but mercifully he didn't say anything.

"Alright. Let's get going," Archie said, mounting his bike.

"Where are we headed?" Jessie asked.

"Our humble abode," Ruby grinned. "It's an abandoned council flat- the windows are smashed up, and there's graffiti everywhere, but it's a shelter at least."

Archie and Luke pedalled ahead, leading the group; James wobbled horribly down the alley, having to stop every few seconds to stop himself from falling off. He was thankful that he was at the very back, so no one else could see the humiliating display. Within a few minutes, he sort of got the hang of it- at least he could ride in a straight line for a good ten seconds without having to stop. The training wheels certainly helped.

"Here it is," Erin said as they reached a block of flats. It was the kind of area mothers would hurry their children past; a homeless man with a Arcanine sat against the wall of a building, smoking something that may or may not have been tabacco, and a car alarm shrieked in the near distance.

"The brochure made it look much nicer," Archie joked, earning a few chuckles from his fellow gang members.

"Well, it's not a white picket fence house," Jessie shrugged, "but it's a big improvement on nowhere."

Erin wasn't kidding about the graffiti. James couldn't find a patch of wall that hadn't been spray painted; crude tags, love hearts with names in and some actually half-decent pictures of Pokemon coated the walls, inside and out, making a weird sort of wallpaper.

"Where should we put the bikes?" James inquired, doubting Robbie had proper locks for them.

"Just wheel 'em inside," Robbie answered. "Don't lose yours- your bike's your new best friend."

The group made their way inside the building, entering one at a time so they could get the bikes through the doorway. Most of the other bikes were personalised, with doodles scratched into the frames. James made a mental note to draw a Growlithe on his later.

Robbie led them up a flight of stairs to another room with a burnt-out campfire in the middle, and beer cans strewn all over the floor. "Sorry 'bout the mess. This is where we get pissed and do sweet FA," he explained. "Hey Ruby, still got that lighter?"

Ruby threw him the small plastic object, which he caught and flipped open. After a few attempts, he'd produced a flame, and threw a few balls of scrunched up newspaper onto the extinguished fire, which he set alight. Robbie grabbed a couple of pieces of scrap wood that were sitting in a pile in the corner of the room, and carefully placed them on top so they would catch.

When everyone was sitting around the fire, Archie snapped his fingers. "That's it!" he exclaimed, pointing at James. "He's the poster guy! I knew I recognised you from somewhere."

"Poster guy?" Jessie repeated, confused.

"Yeah. We saw a bunch of missing posters with his face on back in Kanto. Who's lookin' for you?" Archie asked James.

"Uh... My parents," James replied honestly, scratching his head. "There aren't too many of those, are there?"

"Nah," Erin said. "But we may have defaced a few. Sorry."

"You're a proper rich kid, ain't ya?" Luke asked. "I mean, your accent's all posh."

James blushed. "Well..."

"Luke!" Robbie scolded, saving James from explaining. "Leave the guy alone. Who cares where he's from? He's with us now." James found it strange that Robbie let his twelve-year-old brother carry a flick knife around and mug people, but acted almost like a parent at the same time, looking out for and correcting him. He supposed they were just regular people, really.

"Is there anything we need to know about the gang?" Jessie asked.

"Not really," Ruby said. "Just that we never stay in one place for long, and that we have two rival gangs and one ally gang. The gang you want to watch out for are called 'Sinnoh's Most Wanted', which is a bit of a stretch. They're pathetic really, but if there's one thing they do have, it's guns. Nasty bunch of guys. Heard they killed some kid.

"There's 'The Untouchables', too- I know, ridiculous names, that's why we don't have one- they're not dangerous, really, just annoying. 'The Blue Charmanders' are cool. We rode with them for a while. That's about it."

"Got any booze, Robbo?" Erin interrupted, looking at Robbie hopefully.

"It's the last eight-pack," Robbie warned them. "Wanna crack it open anyway?"

"Screw it," Ruby said. "We've got new members- that's cause to celebrate."

Robbie tore open the plastic wrapping, and started passing beers round. James took his nervously, staring at the logo on the can. He'd never had alcohol before, except a little wine at his parents' party one time- and was worried he'd do something wrong. Were you meant to do anything differently with beer?

"To new friends," Robbie toasted, holding his can in the air. James took a tentative sip from his can, and screwed up his face at the taste.

"_Eugh_," he shuddered, putting the can back down. Archie laughed.

"Don't worry, I can't stand the stuff either," he said, passing James' can to Robbie.

"All the more for me," Robbie grinned, taking the drink gladly. Jessie was frowning, as if trying to decide whether she liked it or not.

"No," she decided out loud, setting the can down. Robbie tutted.

"Are you lot trying to get me drunk?" he joked, leaning over to take the can.

"Give it to me, Rob," Luke said.

"No way, Lukey boy," Robbie refused. "Last time you were completely smashed after half a can."

"Was not!" Luke protested, but didn't press any further.

The rest of the evening was spent drinking, sharing anecdotes and just joking around. James already felt considerably more relaxed in the company of these people who, only that day, had tried to mug him. He didn't care, for some reason. They seemed nice enough- nicer than a lot of other people he'd met in his parents' company. He smirked as he pictured their reaction if they knew where he was now; in a bike gang, squatting in an abandoned flat and drinking beer. They'd probably have a heart attack.


	2. Chapter 2

_Six months later_

Harsh winter sunlight flooded through the empty window frame, lighting up the floorboards James had been sleeping on. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes, sitting up groggily. Looking around the room, he realised that the rest of the group had already gotten up; the blankets and bags that had covered the floor of the room the previous night were gone. Erin pushed open the door, and threw her scarf over her shoulder.

"Come on, trainer Jim- we've got a store to hit," she said cheerily. James groaned sleepily, and waved a hand.

"Give me a moment to wake up," he mumbled, picking up his backpack.

"We're late as it is," Erin insisted. "Everyone else is downstairs. Hey- race you to the store!"

James snapped his head around as Erin bolted back down the wooden stairs and towards the bikes. "Wait up!" he called, slinging his backpack hurriedly over his shoulder and running after her.

The other five members of the gang were already waiting on their bikes when James got outside. He wheeled his over from the spot behind the wall he'd kept it hidden, and clambered onto it. He'd learnt how to ride without the training wheels months ago, and had improved massively- he was better than most people were at riding, and could pull off a few basic tricks. However, the nickname "trainer Jim" seemed to have stuck, however much he begged the others not to use it.

"Last one there's buying drinks," Archie proposed, and, without waiting for an agreement, started pedalling down the lane. James and the five others quickly followed him, all trying to overtake each other in the narrow alleyway without crashing.

"In your face, Rob!" Luke whooped as he flew past his older brother. Robbie grinned, picking up speed.

"Oh, it's on baby bro," he said, standing up on the bike as he swerved narrowly past a lampost. James was near the back of the group, only just in front of Erin.

"Looks like drinks are on you," he grinned as they shot down a slope.

"Don't count on it," Erin replied, pedalling furiously. They turned a sharp corner into a public park, where a few people were walking with their Pokemon, or sitting on benches. The seven teenagers who were tearing past at dangerous speeds caught the attention of a few pedestrians, who looked disapprovingly at them.

"Sorry!" James yelped as he nearly hit a man. Erin took the oppurtunity to cut in front of him in the second he spent braking.

"Have fun in the dust!" she called back. His legs burning from the effort of pedalling, James tightened his grip on the handlebars, and forced himself to keep going. If the nickname was going to stay, the least he could do was prove it wrong.

"Speed bump!" Ruby yelled as they turned onto an empty road. Archie and Luke slowed down a little, but James, ignoring the voice of reason in his head screaming at him to stop, wheeled into the speed bump at full speed. His bike jumped nearly a metre in the air, where it hovvered for a few seconds before hitting the road again. Robbie, Erin, Ruby and Jessie all landed in front of him, whooping as they free-wheeled down the hill. James braked precariously quickly as he reached the little shop, only just stopping himself from shooting into the lake next to it. Archie and Luke arrived just after him, red in the face and out of breath.

"You lost!" Archie and Luke said at the same time, glaring at each other. Robbie chuckled.

"Don't worry, boys," he said. "You're _both _losers in our eyes."

"Piss off, Rob," Luke said, but smiled as he climbed off his bike. "That was insane."

"Insane's one word for it," Erin panted, clutching her knees. "I can think of a few others."

James jumped onto the ground, trying to catch his breath. Jessie leant her bike against the wall of the shop, and looked to the others. "Who's going in?" she asked.

"I'll go," Archie offered. "Am I just getting the beer?"

Robbie pressed a fiver into his hand. "Get me a pack of cigarettes too."

"Wouldn't it be better for Robbie to go in?" Jessie pointed out. "I mean, they won't sell cigarettes and alcohol to a fifteen-year-old."

"Nah- the blokes 'round here don't care who they're sellin' what to, 's long as they make money out of it," Ruby replied.

As Archie stepped through the automatic doors into the shop, Robbie whispered something to Ruby, who laughed, and pulled him against the wall. They started making out, and Jessie glanced perplexedly at James.

"Since when did they become a couple?" she muttered. James shrugged.

"I don't know. Recently, I guess."

Luke saw his older brother snogging Ruby, and pretended to retch, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "Get a room!" he complained; Ruby and Robbie broke apart, and smiled at Luke.

"Sorry," Ruby said as Robbie slid his hand into hers. "I'll save the big brother kissing for later."

Archie re-appeared, holding a plastic bag that looked like it was heavy. He took the cigarettes out, and threw them to Robbie. Erin tutted.

"I wish you wouldn't smoke those," she said as Robbie placed a cigarette between his lips, fumbling with the lighter. "It's like begging to die."

Robbie took a couple of long drags, and blew out the smoke with a contented sigh. "It's not like I buy them all the time," he said, tapping ash onto the ground.

"Still, it's a waste of money."

"Okay, okay, I won't buy any more after this," Robbie said, holding up his hands.

The group sat on the curb for a while, talking about their next destination and bits of news they'd heard. It was nearing the end of December, and a little snow had fallen. Not enough to make anything out of, but enough to paint the ground and treetops white. The shop was next to a wide lake that stretched as far as was visible to either side; the area was fairly deserted, with only a couple of people strolling past.

"I smell bacon," Archie grinned, nudging James. He looked where Archie was pointing, and saw a cop leaning against the wall of a building. The officer was middle-aged, and slightly overweight with thinning brown hair.

Erin smirked. "Hey, Robbie," she said, raising her voice purposely so that the cop could hear her, "remind me- what are dirty pennies made out of?"

Robbie smiled knowingly back, and cupped his hands around his mouth. "DIRTY COPPER!" he bellowed as loudly as he could. The teenagers laughed at the joke; James watched the cop sigh heavily, looking fed up.

"Punks..." the officer said tiredly to himself, and walked off in the opposite direction. Robbie and Erin hi-fived, still giggling. James had found it funny too, but couldn't help but feel sorry for the cop. He was just another person, after all.

Luke's eyes suddenly widened, and he tugged on his brother's jacket desperately. "Rob..."

"Hmm?" Robbie replied, turning to Luke.

"Look," Luke practically whispered, pointing over to a patch of grass near the lake. A group of about ten skinheads were standing in a circle, all wearing similar clothing consisting of boots, jeans and white shirts.

"Oh shit..." Robbie muttered as he saw the other teenagers. He got up, not taking his eyes off the gang and discarding his cigarette. "We're going. _Now_."

James followed the others as they walked back to the bikes. "What's wrong? Who are they?"

"Sinnoh's Most Wanted- the gang we told you about when you first joined," Robbie explained quietly. "We do _not _want to get in a confrontation with them."

"I think they're crowding around someone," Archie said. Sure enough, James saw one of the boys shove a man, sending him crashing onto the icy ground. "What do we do? They might hurt him if we don't do something."

Robbie sighed. "We'd better stop them, then." He looked at Jessie and James, his face serious. "These guys will be armed," he warned them. "Be careful, and if anything happens, run."

They made their way over to the group of skinheads, glancing uneasily at each other. James noticed that there were only one or two girls in the group, and they were all white. All the boys had shaved heads, some with tattoos, and a trolley with backpacks and weapons in sat next tot them. A terrified-looking Asian man was trying to get up from the ground, only to be kicked in the ribs by the oldest boy.

"Stupid chink," the skinhead sneered as the man groaned in pain. "Go back to your own country. We don't want people like you here."

"Hey!" Erin yelled, catching the boy's attention. "Brave, aren't you? Ten against one."

The boy smiled nastily at the gang, his peers turning with him. "Haven't seen you lot in a while." He looked at Erin, who scowled back. "Why don't you leave this to the men, sweetheart? Pretty face like that shouldn't be in a fight."

"Piss off, you nazi prick," Erin spat.

The leader of the skinheads moved his gaze to Robbie, who was holding Ruby's hand. "You must be desperate," the boy said, looking at Ruby's light brown skin. "Screwing a darky."

Robbie's eyes flashed dangerously, and he took a step forwards so he was less than a metre away from the boy. "Say anything about my girlfriend again, and I'll make sure you regret it," he growled, his voice low.

"I'd like to see you try," the boy replied with a smirk, tilting his head slightly. He gestured at Robbie's head. "Nice mohawk. I bet you punks go to protests and burn flags, too. People like you should be shot."

"I'd rather be a punk than a racist skinhead," Robbie countered.

"I'm just trying to protect my country. You should too."

"Look, you bald piece of shit," Jessie said, stepping forwards to join Robbie. "Get lost before I make you."

The skinheads laughed, and a couple pulled out knives. "Alright. You want a fight, you got one," another kid said.

James watched as Robbie, while the teenagers were distracted, walked around to the trolley they'd put their bags and weapons inside, and put his hands on the handle. "Go fetch."

Robbie pushed the trolley with all his strength along the icy path; it picked up speed as it reached the top of the downwards slope, and started to roll down the hill.

"Shit! Our stuff!" one of the skinheads yelled. They looked at each other for a moment, and then sprinted after the trolley. The leader of the gang pushed Robbie over so he fell hard on the ice. "I'll get you for this. Just wait," he threatened, and then ran after his peers.

Wincing, Robbie sat up and rubbed his head. "Dickheads," he muttered as Ruby helped him to his feet. The Asian man pushed himself off the ground, still trembling.

"Are you alright?" Archie asked, walking to him.

"My ribs," the man moaned, clutching his side. "I-I think something's broken."

"Do you have a phone?" James inquired.

"Yeah- here," the man said, weakly reaching inside his pocket and holding a thin smartphone out to James. James took it, and dialled the three digit number for an ambulance.

"Should I call the police too?"

"You can try," Erin shrugged, "but I doubt they'll be much help. A lot of stuff like this happens and no one does anything to stop it."

Once he'd called for the ambulance, James gave the phone back to the man.

"What happened?" Ruby asked the guy, helping him over to a bench. The man sat down, his face screwed up in pain.

"I'm not sure," he said, sucking in air through his teeth. "I was just on my way to work when those people attacked me. They started calling me things, and saying I didn't belong in this country. It's ridiculous. My family have been living here for generations." He shook his head. "Thank you. I shudder to think what they might have done if you hadn't stopped them."

"No problem," Robbie smiled. "What's your name?"

"Oscar Miller," the man replied.

James swiveled around as the sound of sirens became audible; within a few moments, an ambulance had driven up the road and parked at the edge of the pavement.

"Where's the injured person?" a doctor called as he approached the group.

"Here," Archie said as Oscar stood up. "We think his ribs might be broken."

"You said on the phone that he was attacked. Was anything else hurt?"

"They kicked my head, but I think it's okay," Oscar said.

"Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

While Oscar and the doctor walked to the ambulance, a police medic approached the group. She asked a few questions about the attackers, which they answered as well as they could with the information they had. James could tell from the way the rest of the gang spoke that they weren't comfortable talking to the cop: they said everything a little too quickly, and avoided eye contact.

When the officer had finished taking notes, she put the notebook away and looked at the teenagers. "It's a good job you stepped in when you did," she said. "By the looks of it, a couple more blows to the head could have caused permanent brain damage."

Robbie just nodded, not taking his eyes off the ground. "We'll do our best to find the people who attacked him," the cop told them, and then left, her boots crunching in the snow as she walked away.

"They're not going to forget that," Erin mumbled nervously. "They won't stop until they find us."

"We'll figure something out," Robbie said softly, though his tone wasn't convincing. He swung his leg over his bike, and took a deep breath. "Let's get out of here before they come back."

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, no one brought up the skinheads. The gang seemed back to normal on first observation, messing around and talking, but it was clear that something was wrong. James saw his peers' smiles fade as soon as they looked away from each other, and though they laughed heartily at every joke, their eyes betrayed them. They were scared.

While he and Jessie now knew every gang member as well as they knew each other, James still felt like they were the odd ones out, like there was something the rest of the group knew that he didn't. He supposed that the two gangs just had history, and that, being fairly new, he wouldn't understand as well as everyone else the significance of the encounter.

"Hey TJ," Archie said, sitting down next to James. They'd made a campfire just outside of a forrest the night before, and, with no real objective that day, were just sitting around the smoking remains. James frowned.

"TJ?" he repeated.

"Trainer Jim," Archie explained.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that."

"Wishes never come true, TJ."

James rolled his eyes. "Is there any way I can persuade you not to use that sobriquet?"

"Sobri what?"

"It means nickname."

Archie paused. "Maybe if you did something outrageous enough to earn yourself a new name. Like, if you set something on fire, we'd call you Pyro Jim instead."

"I'm not sure that would be any better," James said, smiling.

Jessie walked over to the two boys, hands on her hips. "We're gonna go to the town, maybe find a place to stay for a while," she said.

"What- another abandoned flat?" Archie asked.

"Maybe," Jessie nodded. When Archie had gotten up to get his bike, Jessie stepped over to James' side. "What was the deal with that skinhead gang?" she mumbled, looking over at the rest of the gang to make sure they were preoccupied, and couldn't hear her. "It seems like they have a grudge against us, or something."

"Yeah," James agreed. "Something must have happened before we joined. It's strange, though; their prejudices are so... out-dated."

"I hate them," Jessie said coldly, glaring at the forest in front of her as if the gang was standing there. "The way they talked to that man, and Ruby..." James saw her hands clench into tight fists as she pushed back her anger. "They're sickening. I don't know how anyone can really think like that."

"They were really nasty," James agreed, and prodded Jessie gently as he saw Luke beckoning them over. "C'mon. Let's go- they're waiting for us."

The two walked across the muddy field towards the bikes, watching their breath rise in the freezing air. James looked down at his shoes- they were canvas lace-up sneakers, the same ones he'd had for a while, and although they'd originally started out as white, they were now more of a yellow colour and caked with dirt. It didn't really matter- that kind of wrecked look was even considered fashionable to some- but the soles had almost completely lost their grip, and the fabric was starting to tear at the sides. He silently vowed to try and patch them up when he had the chance.

Once everyone had mounted their bikes, the group made their way to the town, the slopes going downwards so steeply that pedalling was barely necessary for most of the journey. James squinted through the icy wind that hit his cheeks, sending a stinging feeling along his skin, and was barely able to keep his eyes open. The ground was precariously icy, to make things worse; no one else was biking in these conditions, and it was obvious why.

The town seemed secluded, though perhaps the lack of pedestrians was due to the freezing temperature. Houses bordered the pavements with a few shops and a Poke Centre in between.

"What's the plan?" Luke asked as they swerved to a stop.

"Try and mooch off the Poke Centre," Robbie answered. "It's too cold to keep staying in smashed in flats- the nurse there might take pity on us if we explain that we're travelling trainers. Which we are, technically- we'll just leave out the bike gang bit."

Erin frowned. "And if they don't let us?"

"Well, we don't have any money, so we'll just try and find someone who'll take us. I'll figure something else out if all that fails," Robbie said, looking unsure of the plan himself. "Anyway, let's try the Poke Centre first."

After leaving the bikes behind a wall of bins down an abandoned alleyway, they trudged to the orange building with pristine glass windows. The inside was, thanfully, heated, and everyone took a few moments to appreciate the lift in the temperature. Nurse Joy was seated in her usual spot behind the counter, wearing a fixed grin that, despite the fact that it didn't change from person to person, seemed genuine. James wondered if she was really was as cheerful as her name suggested, or just a convincing actress.

"Hi there!" Joy chirped, tilting her head to one side slightly as the kids approached the desk. "How can I help you?"

Robbie nudged Ruby discreetly, reasoning that the nurse might take more pity on a girl; Ruby rolled her eyes, but stepped forwards.

"Hey," she said, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear and putting on a shy smile. "We're, uh, travelling trainers, but we got caught up in all the bad weather. We should've reached the hotel we're headed for hours ago."

Joy nodded knowingly. "It seems a lot of people have been having similar problems," she said, her smile fading a little. "Do you have a place to stay for the night?" She looked out of the window at the darkening sky. "It gets dark so quickly this time of year."

"No," Ruby confirmed. "We had rooms booked at the hotel, but we're not going to make it now. We don't have enough money for anywhere else- I was hoping you might be able to point us in the direction of a youth hostel or somewhere that might be willing to take us."

James realised the genius of Ruby's lie- she'd manipulated Joy into bringing up the subject of accommodation rather than bluntly asking, and the last statement was designed to get the nurse to offer rooms herself. Ruby had drawn the conversation exactly the way she'd wanted it without any mention of the topic on her part.

"Oh- there aren't any youth hostels in this town," Joy said, looking pitying. "I wouldn't let you resort to one if there were. We have plenty of spare rooms upstairs- would you like to stay here until the weather passes?"

Lip twitching into a brief, victorious smile, Ruby nodded eagerly. "That would be great. Thanks so much."

Joy's beam returned with a vengeance. "No problem. It's the least I can offer in the circumstances." She rummaged around in the drawers behind the desk, and produced a plastic card. "This is the key card for the elevator," she explained. "Just scan it by the door, and you'll have access to the rooms upstairs. Let me know if there's anything else you need."

"Cheers," Archie said, returning the smile sweetly as he took the card between his thumb and forefinger. "We would have been in trouble otherwise," he gushed uncharacteristically.

"We get all sorts of trainers here who need a place to stay for one reason or another, so it's not a big deal," Joy said. "I'll be glad of the company."

As the group walked over to the elevator, James lagged behind a little, his eyes drawn to the machinery behind the counter and the trainers chatting happily amongst themselves, seated on the sofas in the longue. His gaze moved back to Joy as he reached the lift, and for an awkward second, his green eyes and her blue ones met. He saw something in her expression that had been hidden from sight before; Joy looked tired, her eyelids suddenly heavy and dark, eyebrows knitted together. Although her face illuminated the second that she realised James was looking at her, her cheeriness illustrated by the upwards corners of her lips and hard not to believe, he'd seen something troubling in the moment they'd made eye contact.

Her smile had vanished.

* * *

The gang members pushed past each other to try and be the first into the room, shotgunning top bunks and wardrobe space. It contained four bunk beds, a few drawers for closes and a small bathroom with a shower and complimentary toiletries neatly lined up on the sink.

"Sweet," Archie grinned, falling back onto one of the matresses. "That's all it took to bag this place? We should try our hand at sweet talk more often."

"Hey, we didn't lie," Ruby shrugged. "Just left out the... less favourable bits."

"How long we staying here?" Luke asked, prodding his older brother with a bony elbow.

"Dunno. I guess until it starts getting warm enough to travel again," Robbie replied, pressing his hands against the radiator. "I'm in no hurry to go back to council flats, anyway."

In the following hour, they all went back downstairs to eat, and James asked Joy if she had a sewing kit. Thankfully, she managed to produce a needle and some white thread, which he took back to his room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, stitching up the sides of one of his shoes when Jessie walked in.

"Hi," he mumbled, not looking up from the needle, brow furrowed in concentration. Jessie didn't reply, but stared out of the window at the steadily falling snow. "Where are the others?" James asked after checking that the fabric was sealed properly.

"They went to get the bikes," Jessie answered softly. "Look, I need to tell you something."

James rose his head at this, a frown creeping onto his face. "What?"

Jessie exhaled, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I'm leaving."

Standing up so sharply that his head didn't have time to dodge the wooden top of the bunk bed, James cursed in pain and then looked, wide-eyed, at Jessie. "What? Where?"

"I... I want to get somewhere in life," Jessie said, avoiding his eyes. "And that's not going to happen if I spend it in a bike gang. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to leave, but it's my only choice if I join this school." Before James could ask what school she was talking about, Jessie raised a hand as a signal not to talk. "It's a drama school," she explained. "I saw a flyer a while back, and I think I have a shot at getting in." She slipped a hand into her coat pocket, and produced a small, crumpled poster with beaming children on the front, dancing or in costume. "I've always wanted to be an actress," Jessie continued as James stared down at the flyer, still frowning.

"But Jess, I thought we were always gonna stick together," he said quietly, fighting back tears.

"I know," Jessie nodded sadly, "but James, this is my chance. I've got to take it, or I'll spend the rest of my life wondering about what might have happened. You could audition with me if you wanted. You're good enough at acting- they'd let you in for sure."

James' fingers gently traced the flyer as his mind wandered to their days at Pokemon Tech, how he'd struggled to get through each term and how it had all ended in chaos. Staring down at the beaming girl pictured halfway through a high kick, he breathed out slowly, and turned back to Jessie.

"I don't want to keep jumping from school to school," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sick of entrance tests, always feeling like the bottom of the class. I'm happy here."

"Then stay," Jessie told him. "I'm not going to stop you doing what makes you happy if you don't stop me."

James sat down slowly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "You're really going, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Jessie confirmed softly. "I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do. I'm not ready to give up on my goals just yet, not without a fight."

The two remained silent for a few moments before James asked: "When are you leaving?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but sometime in the next few days. I won't get there by train in time otherwise."

"And if you don't get in? What then? Where will you go?"

Jessie glared at James irritably. "Of course I'll get in, dummy. Have you seen me act?" Her face softened a little as she dropped the banter. "I don't know. I've got Robbie's number, so I'll keep in touch. Probably go back to the gang, figure something out."

"Have you told the others yet?"

Jessie nodded slowly. "Yeah. Just before they left for the store." She sat down with a sigh. "They took it alright. Told me they'd be losing their best fighter," she smiled, "but they get it."

"Archie's gonna be upset," James said. "He's got a massive crush on you."

Jessie blinked confusedly. "What? Has he?"

James chuckled. "Yeah. Don't you see the way he looks at you? He might as well carry a sign around stating it."

Looking down into her hands, Jessie swallowed, and bit her lip. Her gaze moved to the needle and thread still in James' hand. "Did you manage to fix them?" she inquired, keen to change the subject.

"Yeah," James nodded, holding up one trainer half-heartedly. "They're not perfect, but it's better than before at least."

Jessie inspected the neat, small stitches that were barely visible against the fabric of the sneakers. "Where d' you learn to sew?"

"Don't know, really," James replied, thinking. "I can sort of just do it. It's not that difficult, really."

"Not that difficult?" Jessie repeated, raising an eyebrow. "I feel like murdering someone every time I try and thread the string through the stupid needle. It's impossible."

James smiled. "Sewing's not the best talent to have, anyway," he reasoned. "I'd much rather be good at sport, or maths or something."

"Maths won't fix a torn shirt," Jessie countered. James grunted in response, and set the shoe back on the floor. He felt a fresh pang of despair everytime he reminded himself that in under a week, Jessie would be gone, probably forever. Everyone in the gang got on better than most friends did, but Jessie was the one he could confide in. He'd known her the longest, and spent the most time with her- there were few secrets he had that she didn't know of, and visa versa. He rubbed his temples, closing his eyes and snapping himself out of it by pushing the thought away as he'd taught himself to do over the years.

"_If I could leave Growlie behind when I was younger, I can get over this," _he told himself, trying to compare the situation to worse ones in the past to make himself feel better. "_The rest of the gang aren't going anywhere. You haven't known Jessie much longer than you've known any of them."_

Putting on a brave face, James pulled the patched up canvas shoes back on without undoing the laces, and stood up again. "I'm just going to get some drinks from the vending machine," he stated casually, trying to act as if his best friend hadn't just told him that they were leaving. "Want anything?"

Jessie looked carefully at him for a few seconds, as if trying to read his face, and then nodded. "Yeah- a bag of those jelly sweet things," she said, stretching. James patted his pocket so the change inside jingled.

"One cola and a bag of those jelly sweet things coming right up," he told her, his voice and expression little too cheery to be convincing. He walked stiffly out of the room and took the lift back downstairs, forcing the corners of his mouth upwards as he saw Robbie and the others go past him.

"Hey," Ruby greeted. "Uh... Did Jessie...?"

"Yeah," James confirmed with a nod, trying to sound like he didn't care. "Shame. That girl can fight for the seven of us."

Ruby laughed weakly. "Hmm," she mumbled, looking a little sad. "See you in a minute."

James waved over his shoulder as they stepped into the elevator, and made his way over to the vending machine. Numb fingers pushed a few coins into the slot until he had enough for the snacks, and before long they dropped to the bottom of the machine, along with a few cents of change. He grabbed the drink and the plastic bag of sweets, went upstairs as quickly as he could and practically threw the packet to Jessie.

"There you go," he managed to say, the words so quick that they blurred together into an almost incomprehensible sentence, and set the can down on the cupboard. Before Jessie could respond, he left the room again, and headed for the toilets at the end of the coridoor. He shut himself into a cubicle, leaned against the plastic door and tried to stop himself shaking. Everything had gone wrong in the last year. He'd become homeless, flunked out of school and joined a bike gang that relied on the pity of others and abandoned houses for accommodation. And now he wouldn't even have the one person he thought he could rely on by his side.

Struggling to breath, he dug his nails into his arm to snap himself out of the state of panic, unlocked the cubicle door and stepped back out into the tiled room. His gloomy reflection stared back at him in the mirror, his green eyes piercing and heavy. Despite his abysmal mood, he grinned broadly so that the faux happiness spread to his irises, and, even when he knew that it was forced, it looked real in the spotless mirror.

He thought of nurse Joy as he walked back into the longue.


End file.
